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Pat Leahy’s Israel Obsession

The Vermont senator’s fixation with the Jewish State turns ugly.

Vermont, the state that gave us unrepentant socialist, Bernie Sanders (I-VT) is home to another radical liberal breed named Patrick Leahy (D-VT). Along with Sanders, Sen. Leahy represents the left flank of the Democratic Party and often finds himself at loggerheads with its more centrist members.

Not unsurprising, Leahy is also a visceral critic of Israel, the Mideast’s only democracy and stalwart U.S. ally. In 2011, citing alleged human rights violations, he proposed a bill that would have cut funding to three elite Israeli units that conduct counter-terror operations in Judea/Samaria and Gaza, prompting intervention by Israel’s then defense minister, Ehud Barak.

In 2012, Leahy employed veiled anti-Semitic rhetoric to oppose an amendment proposed by Sen. Mark Kirk (R-IL) that called for the State Department to provide a more accurate accounting of which actual Palestinian refugees were being serviced by U.S. tax dollars. In opposing Kirk, Leahy implied that those who favored the amendment had other interests and not those of the U.S. in mind thereby invoking the blatantly anti-Semitic “Israel firster” canard, which implies divided Jewish loyalties.

Leahy now seems to have set his sights on obtaining “justice” for Arab terrorists neutralized by Israel while conducting terror attacks against Israelis. He recently sent a letter to Secretary of State John Kerry asking the State Department to investigate “gross violations of human rights” alleged to have been committed by Israel’s security forces. The letter, which also names Egypt as an offender, claims that Israel may have engaged in extrajudicial killings and torture.

Leahy has chosen to initiate his assault on Israel at a difficult time when the Jewish State is experiencing a wave of Islamist inspired terrorism, spurred on by the Palestinian Authority and Hamas. In addition, Leahy has chosen to lump Israel, the only democracy in a sea of depravity, with Egypt, a nation ruled by a military strongman with no democratic institutions. The letter of course is devoid of any reference to Palestinian terrorism and genocidal attacks against Israel.

Finally, Leahy’s letter cites four Palestinian Arabs who were allegedly killed in extrajudicial fashion and a further two who were allegedly tortured. But what Leahy fails to note in his letter is that all of those listed were involved in especially heinous terror attacks against Israelis.

Fadi Alloun for example, tried to murder a 15-year old Israeli boy in Jerusalem with a knife. After stabbing and moderately injuring the youngster, Alloun ran wildly through the streets of Jerusalem with a large knife in hand trying to stab and slash at anyone who came across his path of destruction. He was eventually cornered and killed by quick-reacting security forces after refusing to comply with instructions to drop his weapon.

On his Facebook page he wrote, “Either martyrdom or victory” making his nefarious intentions quite obvious. Alloun wasn’t a victim. He was an Islamist terrorist who fell victim to circumstances of his own making.

Leahy’s letter also cites the case of Ahmed Manasra. On October 12, 2015 Manasra and his cousin set out armed with knives to kill Jews in Jerusalem. They first attacked a young man who succeeded in escaping with severe lacerations. They then pounced on 13-yearold boy on a bicycle, stabbing him in the neck before being chased off.

The stabbing spree was finally halted after police officers killed Manasra’s accomplice and a civilian rammed Manasra with his car. Manasra was taken to an Israeli hospital where Israeli doctors provided the terrorist with life-saving treatment. This of course did not prevent Mahmoud Abbas of the Palestinian Authority from accusing Israel of “executing” him.

Leahy’s letter drew a quick and biting reaction from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Netanyahu reminded the senator that Israeli security forces maintain the highest moral standards while defending Israel’s citizens against “bloodthirsty terrorists who come to murder them.” He suggested that Leahy direct his concerns “to those who incite youngsters to commit cruel acts of terrorism,” an obvious reference to Abbas’ Palestinian Authority.

Israeli opposition members, who rarely agree with Netanyahu, weighed in as well. Opposition member Yair Lapid wrote to Harry Reid (D-NV) and characterized Leahy’s letter as “outlandish” and asked Reid to issue a statement stating that Leahy’s views do not reflect those of the Democratic Party.

Hamas of course was elated with Leahy’s letter. A spokesman for the terror group stated, “The request…to open an investigation into the Israeli occupation reflects the global perception of Israeli racism and the ugliness of the crimes committed against the Palestinian people.”

Patrick Leahy serves as a continuous reminder that there are those in the West who function as nothing more than useful idiots for Palestinian terrorism. Their repeated and exclusive criticism of Israel, the Mideast’s only democracy, merely serves to increase Palestinian intransigence and violence thereby reducing any prospect of peaceful settlement.

Ari Lieberman is an attorney and former prosecutor who has authored numerous articles and publications on matters concerning the Middle East and is considered an authority on geo-political and military developments affecting the region.